Thursday, November 3, 2011

9 Million In Unmarked Bills

(Visited on October 29, 2011)

9 Million Entrance

This past Friday, Leslie, one of my coworkers, asked if I had any plans for the weekend. I said, “Not too much. I’ve got this burger blog thing, and my wife and I are planning on heading to Seattle in search of a good burger, but those are my only solid plans.” I had a destination in mind, which I shared with her, but she wasn’t familiar with it.

“Have you been to 9 Million?”, she asks.

“9 Million?”

“9 Million In Unmarked Bills.”

“Never heard of it.”

“It’s a Whiskey Bar in Fremont, and they have some killer burgers; I always have the Havarti Burger with the Truffle Fries.”

Havarti? Truffle fries? I like havarti…I like truffles…I like whiskey. And let’s not forget, I also like burgers; especially “killer” burgers. It seemed like a change of plans may have been in order.

9 Million In Unmarked Bills opens at noon on Saturday. We got there at noon:05, and were not the first ones there.

9 Million’s menu is deeper than its burgers, but burgers is what I was after, and they offer 5 of 'em; four are made of 1/2 LB of American Kobe beef served with your choice of soup, salad or truffle fries. All burgers come with lettuce, onion, tomato and havarti cheese; bacon can be added for $1.50 extra. The BBQ Whiskey Burger comes with a house-made BBQ Whiskey sauce; the Ranch Burger comes with Ranch Dressing (surprise, surprise!); the Fire Alarm Burger comes with Habanero peppers, and the Black Bean Veggie Burger is...well, does it really need an explanation? What sets the Havarti Burger apart is that it doesn't come with anything extra; no BBQ sauce, no Ranch Dressing, no Habenero Peppers, just the beef, lettuce, onion, tomato and Havarti cheese.

The Havarti Burger with Parmesan Truffle Fries

We started out with the Caprese, and we each ordered the Havarti Burger with the Truffle Fries. The burgers come with the lettuce, onions and tomatoes on the side (some assembly required). My wife had a Stella Artois and I had an Irish Stout (they don’t offer Guiness on draft) and we both had a shot of Jameson (followed later on with another). We capped off our meal with a shared apple cobbler with ice cream...yum.

If I were to tell you that, while 9 million is a little over 20 miles away, and we’ve vowed to return soon and often, would I to also need to tell you that we both rated our burgers as “Worth the trip” on my three level scale of “Worth the trip”, “Worth a stop” and “Drive on by”? No, probably not.

9 Million is located at 3507 Fremont Place North in Seattle, WA. You can see them online at http://www.9m-unmarked.com/index.html. Do your own due diligence, then pay them a visit, have a burger and enjoy…I dare you..

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Your Burger Guide

One of my favorite things in this world is a good burger. From well crafted sliders to inspired gourmet creations, burgers are one of my favorite foods.

This blog is where I share with you my quest for the "Ultimate Burger", nirvana on a bun, if you will. Oddly enough, this is a quest I expect to go unfulfilled, for what, after all, is the "Ultimate Burger"? How will I know it when I bite into it? Should I attain this most elusive of treasures and declare my quest complete, how will I know there's not an "Ultimater" (sic) burger just down the road? And, what's "ultimate" to me may be just middlin' to you.

No, as quests go, the treasure here will be not so much in the finding, but in the searching. The searching, and the sharing of what I have found.

Let it be known that I'm skeptical of assertions claiming one burger or burger joint to be "The Best in Town", "The Best in the County", "The Best Here" or "The Best There". I'm sorry, but, "Sez who?"

To my mind "the best" is not only a very subjective title, it's a moving target as well. It all depends on who you're talking to, where they're from and what their frame of mind happens to be at that moment. And, one burger joint may produce the most ultimate of burgers one day, and then just phone in a mediocre burger simulacrum the next.

No, I'll not tell you something is "the best". I will, however, tell you what I like and whether or not I think it's worth a trip, worth a stop or whether you should not bother and just drive on by.

I would like this blog to be interactive, so if you have comments or recommendations, please leave a comment. If you're not comfortable sharing your thoughts in a public forum, my e-mail address is also available.